Ravens back in control after beating Steelers in a classic

By MATT ZENITZ and Landmark News Service

Nov 29, 2013 | 1:00 PM

(Capital Gazette)

BALTIMORE - It took keeping the Pittsburgh Steelers out of the end zone on a late 2-point conversion, but the Ravens came out of Thursday with a critical 22-20 win over the Steelers that moves them into the second AFC Wild Card spot with four games left to play.The Steelers didn't make it easy. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a 1-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery on a fourth-and-1 with 1:03 left in the fourth quarter to cut Baltimore's lead to 22-20. However, Ravens reserve cornerback Chykie Brown helped force a Roethlisberger incompletion on the ensuing 2-point conversion, sealing the win for Baltimore."This was a classic," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "This was another classic Ravens-Steelers game."But the end result was a pivotal win for Baltimore.The Ravens entered Thursday behind both the Tennessee Titans and the Steelers for the second AFC Wild Card spot, but they jumped Pittsburgh with the win and will remain ahead of the 5-6 Tennessee Titans regardless of whether the Titans win on Sunday because they own a better conference record than Tennessee.Baltimore has now won three of its last four after starting the season 3-5, including each of the last two weeks."We're in control of our destiny," Harbaugh said. "It's up to us to win games. I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of our guys for finding ways to win the last two games and finishing the way they have."Five of the Ravens' six losses have come by six points or less, including four of them by three points or less, but they found a way to hold on to win a close game Thursday."Those are the games that we need to find a way to win, and we need to be able to do that," Harbaugh said. "I feel like we're getting there. I feel like we're a really good football team. but you need to go out and prove it."And Thursday was a win over a quality team.The Steelers had won five of their last seven, including three straight.Their offense had scored 27 points or more three of the previous four weeks, and their defense was ranked 10th-best in the NFL against the pass.Baltimore's defense did give up two touchdowns during the fourth quarter, but it held Pittsburgh to just seven points through three quarters, and quarterback Joe Flacco was key in staking the Ravens a 19-7 lead entering the fourth quarter.Flacco was solid for the second straight week after struggling for much of the previous month.He had a 54-yard completion to Torrey Smith on Baltimore's first possession that set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from him to Smith three plays later.He finished 24 of 35 for 251 yards with the touchdown and no interceptions.The Ravens scored just the one touchdown despite seven of their first eight drives stretching into Pittsburgh territory, but they got five field goals from kicker Justin Tucker.The Steelers did hang around. Le'Veon Bell cut Pittsburgh's deficit to 19-14 with a 1-yard touchdown run with 9:32 left in the fourth quarter, and the Steelers were in position to force overtime after Roethlisberger's 1-yard touchdown pass to Cotchery. But unlike other times this season, Baltimore's defense came up with a key stop late that now puts the Ravens in control of their own destiny with four games left, as Harbaugh alluded to."We're playing in the playoffs right now," Baltimore cornerback Lardarius Webb said. "We just have to be focused during the week, just like you are in the playoffs. You just can't lose or you're out. [But] everybody's coming together as a group, and I think we are playing well."